Tools in Acrobat CS5 Comment & Markup Toolbar

You can easily add annotations to Acrobat Creative Suite 5 PDF files, including stamps, text highlights, callouts, and electronic sticky notes by using the Comment & Markup toolbar, which you can access by clicking the Comment option in the Tasks toolbar. You can then choose Show the Comment & Markup Tools.

You can also access the Comment & Markup toolbar by choosing View→ Toolbars→Comment & Markup.

The Comment & Markup toolbar provides several tools for adding comments to PDF documents. It also includes a Show menu to help manage comments and the process of adding comments.

The Stamp tool: You can use stamps to identify documents or to highlight a certain part of a document. Common stamps include Confidential, Draft, Sign Here, and Approved.

The stamps are grouped into sections. Some stamps automatically add your default username along with the date and time you applied them to the document; these stamps are available under the Dynamic category in the Stamps menu. The more traditional business stamps, such as Confidential, appear under the Standard Business category.

You can access each of the different categories by clicking the arrow to the right of the Stamp tool in the Comment & Markup toolbar.

Access the different types of stamp groups.

The Highlight Text, Underline Text, and Cross Out Text tools: The Highlight Text, Cross Out Text, and Underline Text tools provide the same functionality and options that are available with the Text Edits tool, but with easier access.

If you want to delete the highlighted, crossed-out, or underlined formatting to your text, just click the formatted area and hit the Delete or Backspace key. Your text will remain, but the formatting will disappear.

The Attach File tools: With the Attach File tools, you can attach an existing text file, a sound file, or any file copied to the Clipboard from your computer (or computer network) and attach it to the PDF.

The drawing tools: There are three shape tools, two line tools, and a pencil in the Comment & Markup toolbar. Use the drawing tools to add lines, ovals, rectangles, and other shapes to your PDF file. These shapes can call attention to specific portions of a document.

The Text Box tool: When creating notes that you want to prominently display on a document, you can use the Text Box tool.

The Callout tool: The Callout tool creates a callout text box that points to a section of your document with an arrow. The callout text box is made up of three parts: the text box, the knee line, and the end point line. You can resize each part individually to customize the callout area of your document.

The Pencil tool: With the Pencil tool, you can create freeform lines on your documents. These lines can be useful when you’re trying to attract attention to a specific portion of a page.